Jorita, Is your friend religious? The above comment seems particularly nonsensical. The suggestion that a deity inflicts suffering and disease as part of a 'plan' is offensive. What conceivable plan could result in children in the less developed parts of the world constantly suffering from war, pestilence and famine.

Any being, invisible or otherwise, indifferent to the pain and torture of disease & famine is not worthy of respect or consideration. Phrasing it (cancer) as an "unwelcome disturbance" is similar to characterizing the wartime deaths of innocents as "collateral damage." That dog won't hunt.

Yes she is, I look at her facebook page every day and can not find myself to write something on it as there is all this nonsense. She had breast cancer 5 years ago, now the cancer is back in her one lung and in the breast bone. They can not treat the breast bone with radio therapy , she is now only getting chemo, the prognosis is not good, she has 3 children daughter 13, and twin boys 11 of who the one has ADHD and OCD. One of the things posted by one of her friends "don't us your energy to worry, use it to believe. "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, Plans to prosper you and not harm you,plans to give you hope and a future" Jeremiah 29:11. I feel so sad for her

I think the evidence is that some sort of belief, however irrational, CAN have a measurable effect on outcome. This could be due to many reasons, though a theist is likely to say that God intervened. However, if trusting in the mythological deity is her approach, don't make this be about yourself. That won't increase her chances of survival.

My father died recently and I had to decide whether or not to participate in his memorializing and funeral and in the end it was an easy choice. He was my father and would have wanted it, so I participated. My brother, who I suspect is also an atheist, read him passages from The Bible. Once again, my father's death wasn't about my brother's beliefs. He allowed my father to own his own life and death.

It is not that I don't want to be there for my friend, I have posted on her wall, but it is not easy if you are the only one not posting religious nonsens. I will be a Ass if I had to post some religious words. The last time I posted was after her operation on her lung. I just said I am happy that the doctors did such good work. The other 53 posts were all in the line of Thank you god, and god is so great. God pulled you through ect. I feel like the worm in the apple, and have to realy think so carefully before posting as all I could think is where in this entire picture are the doctors, nursing staff and science that made this operation possible. I have to wonder is she realy getting strength from this blind faith or is she in an emotional battle over this as some of her own posts is making me think that she is questioning why this is happening to her, questioning why god has brought this into her life. The first time she went through this I bought her a book on Angels to read a lot has changed in my own life since then, and she does not know this. I will keep my posts to I am thinking of you as she is not going to be getting better this time

Do what you do for you and your friend. Don't let third parties run your life. Me, I say things like "Thank heavens" all the time, which may have religious meaning for others, but also has non-religious meanings (e.g., "the heavens" can simply mean "the sky"). Anyway, only the person saying something knows what they really mean by it.

Psychology seems to be able to improve outcomes to a measurable degree. Sometimes it's belief in God and sometimes it's just being pissed off at the situation they're in to fight like hell, working with all the treatments, and visualizing being healed. It can work.